Does Metoprolol Improve Survival in CHF?
The prevalence of chronic heart failure (CHF) is increasing as the proportion of elderly persons in the population increases. Mortality associated with this disorder remains high, and sudden cardiac death is a common cause of death. Fagerberg and collaborators in the international Metoprolol CR/XL Randomised Intervention Trial in Congestive Heart Failure (MERIT-HF) investigated whether the addition of long-acting metoprolol to standard therapy improves survival in patients with CHF. A total of 3,991 patients were enrolled in the MERIT-HF study. The randomized, placebo-controlled study was conducted at 313 investigational sites in 13 European countries and the United States. Patients in the study were 40 to 80 years of age and had symptomatic heart failure of New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class II, III or IV for at least three months. All participants had been receiving optimal standard therapy for at least two weeks before the study. Following a single-blind, two-week pl
